Bush on Rubio: He ‘followed my lead’

by Jesse Byrnes - 10/01/15 10:17 AM ET

Jeb Bush on Thursday cast doubt on the presidential qualifications of rival Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), saying it’s “not known” whether he has the leadership skills to lead the country.

“I think I have the leadership skills to fix things and that’s my strength and that’s what I talk about,” Bush said during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

{mosads}”And Marco was a member of the House of Representatives when I was governor and he followed my lead and I’m proud of that,” Bush added.

When asked if Rubio had the leadership skills needed to run the country, Bush compared him to President Obama, who was also a first-term senator when he ran for the White House.

“It’s not known,” Bush said. “Barack Obama didn’t end up having them and he won an election based on the belief that people had that he could and he didn’t even try.”

Up to now, Bush and Rubio had avoided engaging one another publicly, instead focusing their barbs on rivals at the top of polls, such as Donald Trump.

But with Bush struggling to gain traction in the polls, he appears ready to go on the attack against Rubio.

A recent poll found Rubio had overtaken Bush for second place in Florida, pulling in 19.2 percent support compared to Bush’s 11.3 percent.

Bush, who served as governor of Florida, had a double-digit lead over the GOP field in the state earlier this summer.

Trump indicated he expects Bush and Rubio to ramp up their attacks on each other.

He said during a campaign stop late Wednesday that the two men “hate each other” and their relationship is “political bulls—.”

Tags Barack Obama Donald Trump Marco Rubio